Box Score Final Statistics

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Evan Payne scored a game-high 23 points to lead Loyola Marymount (1-0) to a 76-66 win over Southeast Missouri (0-1) Friday in the opening day of the LMU Classic.

Payne scored all of his points off the bench on 9-of-14 field goals, 2-of-3 three-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws.

LMU shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field on the night and made five free throws in the final 47 seconds of the game to seal its first win under head coach Mike Dunlap.

The Lions built their largest lead when Matt Hayes knocked down a three-pointer to make it 45-34 with 18:41 left in the second half.

Southeast answered with an 8-0 run and cut LMU's lead to 45-42 on Nino Johnson's jumper at the 15:26 mark.

The Redhawks then pulled ahead by two on a couple occasions before the Lions took over the rest of the way.

After Aaron Adeoye's dunk sliced LMU's lead to 65-63, LMU responded with an 11-3 run in the final 2:50. Isiah Jones missed a three-pointer that would have given Southeast the lead and the Redhawks shot 1-of-6 from the field down the stretch.

LMU and Southeast went back-and-forth in a first half which saw neither team lead by more than six points.

The Redhawks took their first lead of the season at 12-10 on a layup by Antonius Cleveland with 14:33 left to play. Adeoye followed with his first career points to give Southeast a four-point cushion.

Southeast would pull ahead three more times before the Lions maintained the lead for the final 6:54 of the half.

After Johnson buried a pair of free throws to pull Southeast to within two (36-34), Payne threw down a dunk and made a jumper with one second to send LMU into the locker room with a 40-34 advantage.

LMU shot 54 percent (14-of-26) from the field and 57 percent (4-of-7) from three-point range in the game's opening 20 minutes. Payne led all scorers with 12 points off the bench. Johnson put up 10 first-half points for Southeast.

Johnson scored a career-high 22 points to lead all Southeast scorers. He finished with 9-of-12 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws, grabbed six rebounds and gathered three blocks. Cleveland followed with 16 points and Jones pitched in 11 during his first career start with the Redhawks.

Southeast shot 42.4 percent (28-of-66) from the field and just 20 percent (4-of-20) from downtown. The Redhawks also shot 50 percent (6-of-12) at the free throw line.

Meanwhile, LMU shot 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the field.

Southeast is currently without Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference guard/forward Jarekious Bradley and guard Josh Langford. Bradley did not make the trip due to a quad contusion and Langford is serving a two-game suspension due to a violation of team rules last semester.

Southeast concludes play at the LMU Classic against San Diego Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m., CT.